PSY 3109 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Yetzer Hara, Working Memory, Wishful Thinking
12 Oct 2018
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Department
Course
Professor
PSY 3109
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Review of Study Skills-January 11th
· Repeatedly generating information leads to increased memory for that information
· Test yourself on key concepts, shows you what you do not know yet
Distributed Practice
· Cramming is great for short-term memory. To get as best of a mark as possible and
then forget information.
· Spread out your studying. 4 sessions of 30 minutes spread out over a few days is
better than 1 session of 2 hours.
· Multiple choice questions= potential definition type questions
Interleaved Practice
· Not study chapter 1,2,3. More of a combined approach in terms of studying all
material at the same time. More in Mathematics, Stats rather than social sciences.
Elaborative Interrogation
· Is the process of explaining why a fact is true. Generates answers to questions of
why and how. Linked to long-term retention.
Self-Explanation
· Involves explaining how new information is related to information that you already
know. Deeper coding linked to long-term retention.
Rereading
· Better for shot term memory, not long term retention
Highlighting
· Isn’t helpful on its own. Some evidence it can interfere with our ability to make
connections across concepts in the chapter.
Test Anxiety
· 1 out of every 4 people experience severe test anxiety. More anxious about tests, the
worse you do on tests.
Working Memory
· Memory for info that you are processing right now.
· Phonological loop= verbal information
· Visuo spatial sketchpad=visual information
· Central Executive= where to allocate resources depending on task whether its more
of a visual or verbal task.
Test Anxiety
· Experience negative thoughts and ruminations. These negative thoughts occupy
working memory and fewer resources are allocated to verbal and visual tasks. Results in
lower performance.
Expressive Writing
· Moving negative thoughts from mind to pen/paper can free up working memory
because you have expressed your thoughts and have helped reduce anxiety. Results in
higher grades.
· Good to have balance of anxiety. Little anxiety can motivate you to study harder,
while excessive anxiety negatively affects performance.
Reappraisal
· The way you think about a situation. If you think of it as a challenge, beneficial
physiological arousal and better performance. Threat, detrimental physiological arousal
and decreased performance.
· You can change the way you think about things. Reappraisal can be changed through
expressive writing. From negative to positive thoughts. Moved from viewing it as a threat
to now viewing it as a challenge.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Mindfulness
· Focused/deep breathing. Focusing on breathing allows body to calm down. Focus is
somewhere else, and you are traditionally calmer and have the ability to focus more
effectively on test material.
Summary
· Effective/less effective study methods
· Discussed how anxiety impacts performance
· Examined strategies to reduce anxiety
Most Important
How expressive writing can impact test performance in a positive way.
Unit 1: Social Needs-January 15th
Fundamental Human Motivation
Social motivation: the human need to interact with other humans and to be
accepted by them.
•Considered to be social behaviors that address, either directly or indirectly, other
people with the purpose of soliciting a response.
Begins early
36 hours of birth, babies prefer human faces instead of non-human objects.
So many different stimuli(auditory,smell) already preference for human, how
social we are.
12 to 36 hours, infants prefer a video of their mother’s face vs strangers face.
Recognizing mother looks different, and is what they favour.
70 hours, infants begin to imitate facial expressions and physical actions- smiling
and frowning. Into social cues and expressions others are giving us.
four days of birth, upset if an adult stops interacting with them- get a sense early
of it is important to start to interact with others.
Six weeks, babies will imitate the mannerisms of a person they recognize.
nine months, infants recognize other people are independent agents/beings.
Other people might be acting out of their own motivations, and their own
individual desires.
Roy Beaumeister(one of the most famous social psychologists) & Leary (2011)
outline their criteria for new theories in social motivation to be considered
credible
***Which of the following is not one of the 3 theories.
Generality- in order for the theory to be credible, a large component of all
behaviors.
(must account for a broad range of behaviour)
Satiation- if someone pursues x, and then stop it. This theory must explain why
they stopped.
(must explain why people stop pursuing certain goals)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Repeatedly generating information leads to increased memory for that information. Test yourself on key concepts, shows you what you do not know yet. To get as best of a mark as possible and then forget information. 4 sessions of 30 minutes spread out over a few days is better than 1 session of 2 hours. Multiple choice questions= potential definition type questions. More of a combined approach in terms of studying all material at the same time. More in mathematics, stats rather than social sciences. Is the process of explaining why a fact is true. Generates answers to questions of why and how. Involves explaining how new information is related to information that you already know. Better for shot term memory, not long term retention. Some evidence it can interfere with our ability to make connections across concepts in the chapter. 1 out of every 4 people experience severe test anxiety.
